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The
Exorcist - Restored & Remastered
review by Terry Wickham
Director William Friedkin's first choice for the music was legendary composer Bernard Herrmann. Unfortunately with a short deadline and the fact that Herrmann wanted to do the score in England, it forced Friedkin to go with another composer. Lalo Schifrin got the gig and recorded the music in two days in the fall of 1973. When Friedkin heard the score, he felt it was all wrong, "This movie needs very little music. It should be subtle and small. Not to scare the audience, that was the point Lalo and I differed on. It needs restraint." Schifrin was dismissed after the second day. Friedkin turned to the work of contemporary classical composers, taking bits and pieces of their work to assemble the soundtrack for The Exorcist. This CD gives us a chance to hear those tracks, Krzysztof Penderecki (4 tracks), Anton Webern (1 track), Hans Werner Henze (1 track), Jack Nitzsche (1 track) as well as a suite from Lalo Schifrin's unused score and his music for an unused trailer. For contractual reasons, Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells" and "Night of the Electric Insects" are omitted from this CD. There is no denying the power and unsettling force of Krzysztof Penderecki's music. The low rumble "Polymorphia" with the strings swirling around, to building a wall of screeching violins will get to even the most jaded listener. You would have to call Penderecki a genius for writing this twelve-minute cut of absolute terror. "String Quartet No. 1" displays Penderecki's knack for getting under your skin with some strange sounds from the violins. He gets his players to pluck the strings, tap the violin and produce the most unnerving sounds imaginable out of that instrument. Harry Bee's beginning from "The Wind Harp" is almost straight ambient noise that will make your skin crawl. Krzysztof Penderecki's "Kanon For Orchestra and Tape" is a juggernaut of orchestral brute force. Penderecki hits us with a wrecking ball of high-tension strings, while there is a grouping of wooden hits and clicks. This kind of percussion disorients and confuses you into chaos. I can hear that Penderecki's music must have influenced John Williams atonal music for Close Encounters and obviously countless other composers. Hans Werner Henze "Fantasia For Strings" is quite recognizable as it has a real thrust with strings. It's one of the pieces you will immediately identify with The Exorcist. Lalo Schifrin's music from the unused trailer is executed with tremendous music weight. When comparing it to the tracks William Friedkin ended up using, you can definitely hear how it was the opposite of what he wanted. "Suite From Unused Score" is more restrained. It's done with a lot more subtly. I do think the tracks that were used were more effective. Still, it's nice to hear what wasn't used and its still good music. "Rock Ballard (unused theme from The Exorcist)" is totally out of place. It does not fit in the film and was appropriately left out.
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